


5 times Roman Sionis screwed with your emotions and the one time you forced an answer out of him

by ComicTales



Category: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020), DCU
Genre: I Don't Even Know, Issues, Protective Roman Sionis, Roman Sionis needs a hug, Slow Burn, slow burn smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:27:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29692911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComicTales/pseuds/ComicTales
Summary: Roman Sionis.  Even his name sent shivers down your spine.  The man was breathtakingly gorgeous, even in his more ridiculous suits, and it felt physically painful to stand next to him some days and do absolutely nothing about your...interests in your boss.  Speaking of said boss, he was currently walking towards you with a look on his face that you never liked seeing.
Relationships: Roman Sionis/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	5 times Roman Sionis screwed with your emotions and the one time you forced an answer out of him

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends! Warnings for this fic: mention of drugging but it's sorta vague, some smut (not graphic mostly just some spice) for those of you who would like to avoid it...it's not extremely explicit but it's there. It'll be under the final cut if you just want to avoid that part. I blame the discord for the creation of this fic, they keep sending Ewan pictures that are putting ideas in my head. But, without further ado, the next part of my Ewan McGregor kick (which is never ending), the Roman Sionis fic!

Roman had always been an...interesting creature. You’d met the eccentric mob boss years ago in his club, back with the Joker was still the biggest name on the street, and you were all too happy to help him kick the creepy clown’s influence out of Roman’s side of Gotham. You quickly rose to the ranks of Roman’s most trusted enforcer, even kicking Zsasz out of his previous spot as the man’s confidant. Not that Zsasz was too happy about that. You were pretty sure the knife slasher happy creep was in love with Roman, but, well, he’d have to get in line.

Roman Sionis. Even his name sent shivers down your spine. The man was breathtakingly gorgeous, even in his more ridiculous suits, and it felt physically painful to stand next to him some days and do absolutely nothing about your...interests in your boss. Speaking of said boss, he was currently walking towards you with a look on his face that you never liked seeing.

“What happened this time,” you ask in an exasperated tone. Roman looks over at you, sunglasses perched halfway down his nose, and frowns.

“How do you always know something’s happened?”

“You get this look. It’s like a ‘someone pissed me off and now I’m going to buy something else ridiculous to make me feel better’ look.” Roman stared at you and shook his head.

“Dearest Mr. Keo has decided to refuse our kind hospitality,” Roman relented, reaching over to grab two martinis from behind the bar. He handed one to you but you waved it off, remembering the last time you drank with him. You definitely regretted it the morning after, having absolutely nothing but semi-embarrassing memories of falling asleep in his lap nine drinks in.

“I assume you’ll need my assistance on...convincing him otherwise?”

“Ah, no. Zsasz is already on that particular mission. I have something else for you to do, Chipmunk.”

“Can you not call me that?” He’d been calling you the most ridiculous pet names he could imagine for the past week and it was grating on your nerves.

“Aw, come on Animal Cracker. You know you love it.” You roll your eyes at him again before straightening up from your position against the couch.

“Just tell me the job, Roman, before I lose my patience.”

“Well, my dearest Sour Patch-” and you definitely winced at that nickname, “we have to go shopping first.” You groaned audibly and he pouted at you.

“Romey, you know I hate shopping.”

“I don’t get why you dislike it so much,” he said, crossing his arms. You raise your eyebrows and shake your head.

“I just hate it. I don’t need fancy clothes, there’s always people in there judging you, and it always takes too damn long and you waste so much money.”

“What if I like dressing you up in fancy clothes?” Roman stepped closer to you and raised his hand to your hairline, tucking an errant strand behind your ear. “I don’t think it’s a waste of money to put you in something beautiful. And there won’t be anyone else there, Babycakes. Just you and me.” You roll your eyes and take a much needed step away from him to breathe. You hated when he got in your space like that. You felt...exposed every time he did, like he could see right into your mind and tell exactly what you were thinking. Of course, what you were thinking in those scenarios almost always had something to do with a rather compromising position with him.

“You’re not gonna stop until I say yes, are you?”

“Nope. Not a chance.” Rolling your eyes, you let him grab your hand and drag you out to his Rolls-Royce. He directed you into the back seat next to him and you leaned back against the headrest, closing your eyes as his driver started the car. 

“You gonna tell me why I desperately need new clothes now?” Roman hummed and picked at his white gloves, tossing you a grin. 

“We are going to a party, Muffin.” You sigh and crack your eyes open as the car slows down. It was very possible that you hated parties more than you hated shopping, which was an accomplishment.

“And you couldn’t take Zsasz with you to the party and leave the fun mission to me?”

“Zsasz wouldn’t look nearly as gorgeous on my arm as you will, Pumpkin. And I have to look my best wherever I go, you know that.” You bang your head against the headrest before opening the car door, leaving it open for Roman to slide out. His hand fell to the small of your back as the two of you walked into the shop and you rolled your eyes.

“I’m not going to run away, you know,” you mutter as he steers you firmly towards the back of the high end boutique. 

“I wouldn’t put it past you, Baby Doll. You’re a sneaky little thing when you want to be,” he says with a grin as they approach one of the employees. “Darla, darling, my dearest Angel Pie and are here to try on those pieces I set aside the other day,” he said with a charming grin and the woman simpered, fluttering her eyelashes at him. You barely held in your eye roll as Roman tugged you along to a large dressing room.

Roman gestured for you to follow Darla into a smaller area and you watched him fall into a large chair. Rolling your eyes, you allowed Darla to tug you towards a large rack of clothing. She left you in the room and allowed you to peruse the items on the rack and you immediately hated the majority of them. While they fit Roman’s taste well, you were a little more subdued than he was in your own choices.

Finally pulling out a few simple but elegant pieces, you started to slip them on. Turning in the mirror, you frowned a little. Another reason you hated shopping, you were never happy with how the clothes looked.

“Snowflake!” You rolled your eyes as Roman called out to you again. “I expect to see you in these clothes!” Huffing out a sigh, you walk out into the larger area of the dressing room, standing in front of him with your arms crossed.

“Happy now?” He grinned at you and made a twirling motion with his hand. You huffed out another sigh and turned before raising your eyebrows.

“Hmm, gorgeous, of course. But I don’t think it’s really speaking to me. Try the next one.” The two of you went on like that for an hour and you were getting frustrated. As he declined yet another outfit you glared at him.

“You don’t like any of them? Then you come pick it out!” You toss your hands in the air in frustration and storm back to the smaller enclosed area. You hear a chuckle from behind you and Roman steps into the area, immediately walking over to the rack of clothes. He sifts through them before pulling off one outfit. And even you had to admit that it was pretty. He handed it to you and you sighed, going to unbutton the outfit you were already wearing. You raise an eyebrow at him and gesture for him to leave and he backs out slowly, hands raised as he closes the door. You change into the outfit he chose quickly and even you had to admit that it looked good on you. The colors complemented your skin tone well and even though it was a little...extra...you enjoyed the patterns. Walking back out into the main room, Roman grinned at you.

“Oh, now that? That is absolutely...you look ravishing Buttercup.” You were pretty sure your eyes were going to get stuck in the back of your head if you kept rolling them like this. He crooked his finger at you and it was like you were a fish on a hook. You immediately walked over to him and he stared up at you, a smirk flashing across his face. His hand trailed up and ran down your arm, touching the edges of the fabric. “Yes, I think I quite like this one,” he murmurs before grabbing your hand and tugging you downwards, into his lap. Your eyes widened and he grinned at you, tugging a gloved hand through your hair.

“Roman,” you say quietly and he hums, playing with your fingers. He glances up at you and smiles lazily.

“I had fun the other night,” he said, running his hand down your thigh. “You’re fun when you’re drunk, you know that? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like that before. You’re always so...reserved. Professional.” Roman trails off as his fingers slide down your throat. You suck in a breath, holding it as his hand trails to the back of your neck, rubbing slightly at the junction to your spine.

“Roman,” you say again, voice hitching slightly as his thumb presses into the side of your throat.

“Yes, Princess?” You can’t remember how to breathe as his other hand slides over your hip and he chuckles. “Cat got your tongue, my treasure?” You close your eyes and he lets out another low laugh. You feel him move forward and his lips press to the underside of your jaw, holding there for a few moments. He pulls away for a moment and your eyes crack open just a bit to see him staring at you, those outlined eyes a striking grey-blue that had always attracted your attention. He tilted his head and his head inched forwards, your breath catching in your throat as his eyes flickered down to your lips. Gathering the courage to lean slightly in, the door opened with a loud creak.

“Oh! My apologies, Mr. Sionis. I was simply coming to check on your progress,” Darla stuttered out. You practically jumped out of Roman’s lap, straightening your clothes as you turned to look at the poor girl.

“No worries, Darla. We’ll be taking the one my treasure is wearing now. Dearest, if you’d change so we can get it hung up properly? Wouldn’t want any wrinkles before the party.” Roman winked at you before following Darla out of the room and you quickly backed into the room that housed your casual clothes. You changed quickly, taking a moment to catch your breath. You were beyond confused on what happened and wondered what exactly you’d said that night when he’d plied you with more bourbon than you normally drank.

Shaking the thought out of your head, you left the dressing room and handed Darla the outfit Roman had chosen. You stood next to him as she hung it in one of the garment bags and Roman wrapped his hand around your help, pulling you into his side. Darla rattled off a frankly ridiculous number as the price for the outfit and your eyes widened as you stared up at Roman. Who in the world would pay that much for clothing? Apparently Roman, as he just handed over his card. He took the bag from Darla and walked out with it slung over his shoulder. You followed behind, still in shock over the price, and settled in the car beside him quietly.

As he instructed the driver to take you home first, you stared out the window and allowed yourself to sink into your own thoughts.

* * *

The party was a week later. You’d been dreading this day since the morning Roman took you shopping. He was supposed to pick you up in five minutes and this was the least ecstatic you had ever been about any mission Roman had assigned to you. You were good at breaking people’s legs, not dancing. You could terrify someone with a few well placed threats, but small talk? Not a chance. You’d already tripped in your new shoes no less than five times and that was just walking in your own apartment. You couldn’t imagine what it would be like dancing.

You groaned as your phone buzzed, signalling that Roman was downstairs. Taking a deep breath, you left your apartment and walked downstairs. Roman was standing outside the car, fiddling with his phone. You walk up to him and he looks up with a grin.

“Yes, that outfit was the right choice,” he says before opening the door and ushering you inside. You rolled your eyes, but allowed yourself to be pushed into the car.

“Why are we going to this party again?”

“Because there’s some people there that I need to talk to and they will be far more receptive to my suggestions if I have someone interesting by my side.”

“So, I'm the entertainment?”

“Not exactly. You’re more a welcome distraction for me from their insufferable conversation.” You roll your eyes and fiddle with the edges of your clothes while you wait for the car to reach its destination. It only took a few minutes, shocking with Gotham’s normal traffic, and you were glad for it. Ever since the other morning, any time you spent with Roman had been awkward. It was never long, just a few minutes to check on the next mission or give a report, but you could feel the tension between the two of you and it was driving you up the wall. 

You were glad when the car parked and reached immediately for the door handle, ready to get out of the small space. Roman tossed you a look and put his hand over yours, pulling the door shut.

“Ah, ah, my treasure. No opening your own doors when I’m here,” he said with a smirk before getting out and walking to your side of the car. You roll your eyes and stare at him as he opens the door.

“If you want me to do this, Roman, I’m getting a raise. And a Camaro.” He grinned at you and nodded.

“Of course, my treasure. Whatever you desire,” he said as he held out his hand expectantly. You cautiously took it, thinking he’d given in just a little too easily, and he pulled you into his side, wrapping his arm around your waist. “Wave to the cameras, treasure. They’re all looking at you.”

“Do you have to call me that?”

“What, treasure? Why wouldn’t I call you that?”

“Because it’s ridiculous?”

“Oh, but you’re my treasure, dearest. I pulled you out from the depths of despair like a diamond in the rough and you are so much more beautiful than a diamond could be.” You roll your eyes as the two of you step into the museum and you’re immediately taken aback by the beautiful paintings adorning the walls.

“Roman, you didn’t tell me the party was going to be the new art exhibit.”

“That makes a difference?”

“Well, yeah. I wouldn’t have put up so much of a fight if I knew it was this. I’ve been waiting for the exhibit to circle to Gotham for months!” Roman was silently staring at you and you frowned. “What?”

“I didn’t know you liked art.”

“Just because I kill people for you doesn’t mean that I can’t like pretty things, Roman. I’m not a sociopath like Zsasz.” Roman let out a chuckle and squeezed your hip.

“Of course you aren’t. It’s simply an interesting fact about you that I’ve only just learned. I realized the other night that we’ve worked together for many years now and I really don’t know you well. And you seem to know everything about me.”

“You are a pretty public person, Roman.”

“And you are extremely private.”

“Yes, yes I am.” You raised your eyebrows, making it clear that you weren’t going to continue the conversation and Roman smiled at you.

“Which painting would you like to go to first?”

Roman had been dragged away from you five paintings in and you’d been free to peruse the art in near silence, taking your time to admire the details. The night was nearing a close and you were near the final painting in the exhibit. As you stood in front of it, you felt arms wrap around you from behind. You stiffened slightly, but relaxed when you noted the semi-sweet whiskey and oak scent you’d become so familiar with over the years. Roman’s chin rested on your shoulder as you remained still under his touch.

“Do you know the meaning behind this painting?” He murmured the question into your ear and you shivered slightly.

“Um, it’s titled Judith Beheading Holofernes. It was done by Artemisia Gentileshi. Sort of a ‘screw the patriarchy’ kind of moment.”

“An interesting concept.” You hummed an assent before reaching up to point out a few details.

“Yeah. The original was a little clearer, but had more of a fake appearance. You can tell the difference between the two because she changed the blue dress to yello-ow.” You stuttered over the color as Roman pressed his nose against the underside of your jaw and you felt his grin as his lips brushed against your neck.

“And what do you think of the original versus the one here,” he said quietly, a teasing lilt to his voice.

“The one here is much more...realis-istic,” Roman had to know what he was doing as his breath ghosted over the shell of your ear.

“Keep going.”

“The painting itself was done in the…” you trailed off as he pressed his lips against the back of your neck and you finally leaned back fully into his touch. As soon as you stopped talking though, Roman moved his mouth away. Your eyes fluttered shut momentarily before you continued. “It was done in the 17th century which was notorious for their patriarchal ideals and-” you cut yourself off as you felt his slight stubble scratching the side of your neck. “And the fact that depicted such a graphic feminist image during this time is even mo-more, um,” he was pressing gentle kisses to the juncture of your neck and shoulder now and it was distracting as all hell. He pulled back and you knew he had that ridiculous smug grin on his face.

“Please, continue. It’s interesting.” You sucked in a deep breath and continued.

“The...the feminist image during this time made it more risque, I guess you could say?” You felt his hum against the base of your neck and you sucked in a deep breath before elbowing him lightly in the ribs. “Will you stop that?”

“Stop what, my treasure?”

“You know what,” you hiss out as you spun on your heel and glared at him, crossing your arms.

“Alas, my treasure, I have absolutely no idea.” He gave you a cocky grin and you rolled your eyes. He took a step further, causing you to take an involuntary step back. His grin widened as he strode forward until you were pressed against the pillar next to the painting. His hands skimmed your side as he leaned towards you, a wicked grin still resting on his face. You look away and feel one of his gloved hands press under your chin, forcing you to look up at him.

“My treasure,” he practically purred into your ear, “I’ll do whatever I bloody well please unless you truly mean your no.” He pressed a kiss to your cheek before backing away, straightening the sleeves of his suit. “Well then, it is getting late. I suppose we should be off.” He held out his elbow for you to slip your hand around and you simply glared at him, stalking off towards the door. You heard his chuckle resonating behind you and you groaned, taking the passenger seat before he could force you to sit in the back with him.

* * *

Roman took you off the mission. Roman never took you off missions, especially not when it had something directly to do with your father’s death. He knew you were still sensitive about it and you always relished the chance to be given free reign on your own choices of terror. Roman never interrupted those  _ special _ interrogation sessions. He knew better. The first - and last - time that he’d interrupted had ended with him in the hospital due to a knife in his shoulder. What could you say, pimping mob bosses pissed you off. 

You’d gotten wind of a very important drug deal going down on the docks that the Falcone family had some stock in and you’d immediately gone to Roman, requesting to be assigned the job. You hadn’t thought twice about the request considering Roman had never told you no before, but he had this time. And you were definitely sulking. Instead, he’d sent fucking  _ Zsasz _ . The idiot couldn’t cut a straight line on his own body, what was he able to do that you couldn’t do better? 

Then again, that wasn’t really what had made you the angriest. No, what had infuriated you was the way that Roman just said no without even listening to your plan. He hadn’t even looked at you before spitting out that ridiculous word! Then, you tried to argue because you were clearly the best choice for the job and he just waved his hand towards his lackey standing by the door and the ridiculous brute had dragged you out of his office! The nerve of that fucking guy. Of course, you’d shot him in the foot for touching you but that hardly made you feel better.

So you had taken to sulking outside of a pawn shop, having taken the lackey’s shoes and cuff links and sold them. You dragged in a breath of smoke from your cigarette and held it for a few moments before releasing it. You closed your eyes and leaned your head against the brick wall, taking in the rare Gotham sun. Contrary to the myths about you, Roman’s terrifying shadow of an enforcer, you weren’t actually a vampire and rather enjoyed a little sun.

“Smoking is bad for you,” came a sing-song voice from your left. You banged your head against the brick wall before sending a prayer to whatever deity existed that might send you assistance so that this interaction would be over soon. “Mistah J used to smoke, but I made him quit a while ago! You probably should too!”

“Harley,” you bite out, a little harsher than the girl probably deserved. She really wasn’t that bad, just a little annoying. Roman hated her though, which meant you never spent too much time around her. With that thought in your head, and idea formed and you smirked, turning your head to look at Harley. “Hey, are you busy tonight?”

“Nope! Mistah J is off dealing with some sorta issue with a clown or two so I’m all free! Why ya askin’?”

“Well, I’ve got nothing to do either and I heard there might be a little bit of fun down at the docks. Wondered if you maybe wanted to raise a little more havoc with me?”

“Ooh, well, I do love raisin’ havoc! What kinda fun is goin’ down?”

“Falcone is trying to pull another asset.”

“Doesn’t Romey normally send you with buncha boys to handle that?”

“Roman has...something else important in the works. I figured you and I are enough to handle it.” Roman was going to be so pissed when he heard you’d been there, you thought to yourself as you saw the wheels turning in Harley’s head. He’d be ten times more pissed when he heard you’d teamed up with Harley to handle it. He totally deserved to be pissed off for how he had treated you.

“You know what? I’m down! I’ll meet ya at the docks tonight at 10?”

“You got it, Harls,” you drawled out before straightening up and putting your cigarette out. “And you’re right, I probably should stop smoking.” The girl grinned at you and you nodded to her before walking off towards your apartment.

You were fiddling with the pistol in your hand as you sat in front of Roman’s desk. He was pacing somewhere behind you, the heels of his dress shoes clicking loudly against the marble flooring. You set the pistol down on his desk and leaned your head back to look at him, eyebrows raised. He was pinching the bridge of his nose as he paced and muttering to himself. You sighed and picked at your nails lightly while you waited for him to calm down. As more minutes passed by, you eventually cracked.

“Will you just say something, Roman? For god’s sake you’re gonna give yourself an aneurysm.”

“I’m going to give myself an aneurysm?” He finally stopped pacing and glared at you as he snapped out the question. “No, no. I won’t give myself one. You’re going to give me one!” You raise your eyebrows again and cross your arms.

“Oh, come one. Did you really expect anything different from me? You know I have authority issues. You tell me no and it just makes me want to do it more.” If looks could kill, Roman would’ve murdered you. No, he’d have demolished you completely. You’d be more than just six feet under.

“Do you have no common sense whatsoever? Why the  _ fuck _ would you think that you could handle that situation with only  _ Harley fucking Quinn  _ as your backup? Are you stupid? I can’t fucking believe you!”

“Oh, calm down. I’m fine, aren’t I? Don’t even have a scratch on me.” Roman stiffened and you winced, knowing that was probably not something you should’ve said.

“I wonder why that is,” he hissed at you as he stalked closer. You stood as he approached, holding your hands up.

“Hey, okay. I get it, I shouldn’t have done that. But we got the job done, didn’t we? Falcone is down an asset an-”

“I don’t CARE about fucking Falcone! I couldn’t possibly care less about what the  _ fuck _ Falcone is getting up to down there right now! What I care about is you putting yourself in a fucking reckless position with the most flightly bitch that we know!” Roman had stalked towards you as he spoke, forcing you to back up until you hit his desk. And that was when you noticed it. Sure, Roman seemed angry but he wasn’t really. No. He was scared and worried.

“Roman?” You reached out a hand towards him and he grabbed your wrist, squeezing tightly. His other hand came down on the other side of you as he pressed you against the edge of the desk. You glanced down at it before biting your lip and taking your other hand, pressing it gently against his cheek. “Hey, I’m right here, Roman. Nothing happened to me and Harley was pretty decent backup for once.” His eyes squeezed shut and you heard him take a deep breath before he spoke again. 

“Do you have any idea what I would have done if you weren’t okay? If Harley hadn’t had your back?” You remain silent, waiting for him to continue. “I would’ve burned the fucking world down. I would’ve blown the little bitch up and ripped Falcone to bits for what his men did to you.” You bit your lip and rubbed your thumb across his jawline.

“I’m not some damsel in distress, Roman. I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for a lot longer than I’ve been your enforcer.” Roman let out a bitter laugh and leaned forwards, resting his forehead against your collarbone.

“Oh, treasure, you’re so much more than my enforcer,” he whispered before falling silent. The two of you stood like that for a long while, complete silence befalling the room. A knock on his office door raised the two of you from the silent reverie and he looked at you one more time before leaning in, pressing his lips to your forehead. You froze under the gentle touch as he squeezed your shoulder.

“Treasure, please, let my driver take you home,” he murmured against your skin and you felt yourself nodding against your own will. You could feel the smile on his lips before he pulled away, straightening his collar. And just like that, within a few seconds, he was back to the Roman you’d always known. Calm, cool and collected. Nothing like the frenzied man who had just desperately been clinging to you.

* * *

“I’m sorry, you want me to do what?” You stared at Roman incredulously and he barely looked up at you as he pushed a stack of papers towards you.

“I want you to go undercover and tell me who is skimming money off of my business.”

“Oh, no, I got that part. What I didn’t understand is why you want  _ me _ to go undercover. I suck at undercover.” Roman glanced over at you for a moment before turning back to his computer.

“I don’t trust anyone else to handle this,” he said and you sighed, shaking your head.

“When this backfires, don’t say I didn’t tell you so,” you say as you sit down across from him and start flipping the papers.

“Oh, don’t be dramatic,” he says and you scoff.

“Oh, you of all people telling me not to be dramatic? That’s rich, Roman.”

“I have no idea to what you refer.”

“Mhmm, because you’re definitely not the most dramatic person I know.” 

“Look, it’s not that hard. Just hang around an office for a couple days, grab some drinks with people and let me know who’s shady.” You frown at him and set the papers down.

“And, what do I get out of it?” Roman gave a huff and shrugged.

“What do you want?”

“For you to actually look at me,” you say with your arms crossed. “Or, at the very least, stop treating me like I’m a second-rate goon for hire like you’ve been doing the past few days.” You heard Roman sigh before he finally turned away from his computer, staring at you from across the desk.

“There, you happy now? You’ll stop throwing a fit and do the job I ask you to do?” You hummed and nodded.

“Yeah, I am. I’ll do the job. Also, I was totally not throwing a fit. I just think you should know by now that I suck at undercover.” Roman rolled his eyes and turned back to his computer.

“You know, you do work for me. I can just tell you that you have to do a job.”

“Ah, but you wouldn’t do that.”

“Wouldn’t I? I do it to everyone else.”

“Yeah, but I’m not everyone else. You like me too much to do that.”

“That is something I’m not so sure about.”

“Fine, you don’t want to hear me bitch at you when you try and order me around. The authority issue really comes raging out then.” Roman remained quiet and you reached your foot underneath the desk to tap at his ankle. “Hey, you with me?” 

“Yes, but as you can see I’m very busy. If you wouldn’t mind?” He gestured towards his office door and you frowned. “I’ll touch base with you later to get an update.” You stood and grabbed the papers in front of you before walking towards the door. As you shut it behind you, all you could think about was that he hadn’t call you that stupid nickname the entire time and you couldn’t believe that you actually missed it.

You’d been in this office for a week and you hated your life. How did people handle 9-5 office life? You were bored out of your mind and had somehow managed to reorganize the entire office and get your work done more quickly than even the manager on the floor. 

“Yo! You coming to drink with us? It’s payday,” one of the younger guys said as he approached, sitting on the edge of your desk. You held in an eye roll as he leaned into your personal space.

“Sure,” you said, plastering on a fake smile. “Not like I’m doing much else.” Roman hadn’t called you once since you were put on this mission and you were starting to think that he’d assigned you here just to keep you away from him.

“Come on, then. We’re heading out right now. Wanna split the cab with me?” You hold in a sigh and nod, grabbing your belongings and logging out of your computer. You were pretty sure you knew who was skimming off the profits and you were just waiting on Roman to contact you. Until then, you were stuck here.

You made the way to the bar with a small group of the office workers and were happy to take the drinks offered to you. You felt yourself loosening up slightly for the first time the entire week. So what if Roman didn’t want to deal with you, you thought as you downed another shot of vodka. It was his loss. And it definitely wasn’t cool that he would just...confuse you with feelings and being attractive and that stupid moment in front of that painting. It wasn’t fair that he would do that, and be all attractive and then vulnerable with you and then completely disregard you just a day later.

You tipped back another shot and found yourself being led out to the dance floor and you laughed, tilting your head back as you danced next to others that were just as terrible at dancing as you were. 

An hour later, you found yourself leaning against a sink in the bathroom, dialing one of Roman’s numbers and just hoping that he’d pick up. You frowned as it went straight to voicemail before speaking.

“You know what, Roman? You suck. You totally fu-fucking suck.” You hiccuped slightly. “You send me on this stupid mission, then you don’t contact me. And you leave me here with boring people. I made out with one of the dudes and he was soooo boring. He just, like, stood there.” You paused for a moment and leaned over the sink, taking a deep breath as the spins started. You held your breath and made a few disturbing noises before you were able to breathe properly again. “Just...fuck you, Roman. Well, not fuck you cause apparently you don’t want that anymore, but...you know what I mean. Oh, and one more thing. You stopped calling me that stupid name. I’m mad at you for that.” You heard the voicemail shut off and you groaned as you locked your phone, shoving it into your pocket.

You rejoined the group of the office workers ten minutes later and headed back to the bar, going to order another shot. As you went to grab the shot, you felt someone’s fingers enclose your wrist. You looked over to see Roman standing next to you, a stormy look on his face. You frown at him as he pulls you away from the bar.

“Roman? What are you-” you stumble and his sighs, wrapping his arm around your waist and holding you up. “Why are you he-here,” you asked, stumbling over the words.

“Just be quiet,” he spoke in a low voice. “I’m taking you back to your apartment.” You heard Roman pass his card off to the bartender and you lean your head against his shoulder. His hand reaches up and grips your hair lightly and you move around and practically cling to him like an octopus. 

“I missed you,” you mumble.

“God, you really are drunk. Jesus fuck, what’s wrong with you?”

“Nothin’,” you mumble and you hear him sigh.

“Clearly something is,” you hear him grumble as he pulls you out of the bar. You frown as he pushes you into the backseat of his car.

“Hm, this is a familiar position,” you mumble as your head drops into his lap. You heard a frustrated noise come from Roman and you look up at him, a frown crossing your face again. “Hey, Romey?” He looked down at you with raised eyebrows.

“Yes?”

“You know, you stopped calling me that stupid name.”

“Yes, I heard. From your voicemail.”

“Oh, you got my voicemail?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Why didn’t you answer then? Or call me back? You always used to call me back.”

“I did call you. You didn’t answer and I got worried. You were clearly drunk and making terrible decisions and you clearly can’t be trusted to handle missions like this on your own.” As inebriated as you were, you definitely didn’t catch his angry tone.

“Oh,” you giggle as you reach your hand up to his jawline. “You know, you’re pretty.”

“I gathered that you think so, treasure.”

“Oh, yay.” You smiled at him and he stared down at you, his gloved hand fiddling with the ends of your hair. You closed your eyes as he played with your hair and let yourself drift off to sleep.

You woke up in your bed and sighed as a splitting pain ran through your head. You looked over at your nightstand and smiled as you noticed a glass of water and Advil sitting there. You downed the pills and quickly drank the water, rubbing at your temple. You stood, swaying a little on your feet before you stabilized. You noticed a small piece of paper by where the cup was previously sitting and you grabbed it, reading the familiar handwriting.

_ We’ll talk about this later, treasure. What you did was stupid, but we can address that later. Call me when you’re awake. _

_ -Roman _

Fuck. You were so screwed.

* * *

Three weeks later, you found yourself glaring at your shattered glass knife collection. It’d taken you years to put that together and it was all gone because Zsasz had a bad day. There was a knock on your door but you didn’t stand up, too annoyed to deal with anyone that could be outside. The knock came again and you took a broken piece of a knife and tossed it at the door. It stuck in the wooden paneling and you heard a sigh before the door opened. Roman walked in, stepping over pieces of glass and wood.

“Do I want to know what happened?”

“Ask your fucking bestie, Sionis,” you spat at him, lazers practically shooting out of your eyes as you glance back at him. Roman raised his eyebrows at you before crouching down by your side. He picked up a piece of one of the knives before dropping it back to the floor.

“Well, there’s no need for such an attitude, my treasure.”

“Will you stop calling me that,” you snap at him and he raises his hands in a surrender motion. 

“Okay, okay. Hey, we can get you more knives. Not a big deal. I’ll even buy them for you, okay?” You glared at him again and shook your head.

“These were fucking antiques, Sionis. Irreplaceable. At least half of these were one of a kind. I spent years finishing the collection and my father spent years before me starting it.” You could feel Roman still staring at you and you sighed, turning to face him properly. “I’m sorry. It’s just...this is all I had left of my family. And Zsasz fucking broke it.” Roman’s hand fell onto your shoulder and squeezed lightly.

“Let me make a couple calls, okay?” Roman stood and stepped carefully around the broken shards and pulled his phone out. You weren’t sure who he called, whatever he said was in a language you didn’t understand. You listened with half an ear, not picking up much on what either two said. It was a silent few minutes when Roman stepped back into the room until there was another knock outside your door.

Two strange Russian men walked into your apartment with cases in their hands and they crouched next to the shards of knives. Nodding to you, they opened their cases and began picking up the shards, sticking them into small slots and pulling out what looked to be some sort of glue. You looked at Roman who held his hand out to you.

“Come, darling. They’ll be able to put the knives back together. Restoration is what they do. Let me distract you from the murder rampage you’ve got brewing inside that pretty head.” You rolled your eyes, but took Roman’s hand and let him pull you out of your apartment.

You found yourself sitting next to him in a small diner that you would’ve assumed he was too good to go to. But it was your favorite place to eat. The owners knew you well and you always got the same exact thing. There was something about the greasy diner food that just seemed to calm you down. 

“I didn’t know you knew about this place,” you said quietly as you picked at the food in front of you. Roman hummed and nodded his head.

“Of course I do. This is your favorite place to go eat. You come here after every mission I send you on, whether it went well or didn’t.” You glance over at him and frown.

“What, you having me followed or something, Roman?”

“Yes.”

“You-wait, what? Why are you having me followed?”

“I like knowing if you make it home at night. You never answer your phone, so this is the next best option.”

“How does not answering my phone make it so the next best option is having me followed? That makes zero sense. There is no logic in that whatsoever.” You stole one of his fries that he hasn’t touched.

“Well, I never said I was logical when it came to people I care about.” You stare at him after he makes that statement for a long moment.

“You care about me?” Roman lets out a laugh.

“You think I’d go to these lengths to keep someone I don’t like happy?”

“Liking me is different than caring about me. Plenty of people like me, just as plenty of people hate me. But not that many care about me. Actually, no one else cares about me.” Your last statement was so quiet that you hoped he missed it but he gave you a blindingly charming smile and you unfocused from the world for just a moment.

“Why was Zsasz at your apartment?” You raised your eyebrows at the question and shrugged.

“I don’t know. You’re the one who sent him there. He had some ridiculous file to give me that I threw out. It was so badly put together that it was completely useless.”

“I didn’t send Zsasz to your apartment. I told him to email you the files,” Roman said with a frown. You stole another of his fries and he pushed the plate over to you. You frown at that and chew on a fry.

“How did he know where I live then? I’ve never told him.” Roman pulled his phone out and shook his head.

“I don’t know, but I plan to find out.” You set your hand over his and force him to put his phone down before he dials Zsasz’s number.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal. He’s probably just seen me go in there a few times. He does live decently close.” Roman keeps the frown on his face but acquiesces to your demands, putting his phone away. “I’m assuming you came to my apartment for a reason other than to fix my knife collection?” Roman nodded.

“I’ve got a job coming up. Wondered if you would be in to handle it?”

“Always am, Roman. You know you don’t have to ask.” Roman hums and you frowned, nudging him with your shoulder. “What’s going on?”

“You haven’t been by the club in a few weeks. Wasn’t quite sure how you were feeling after the whole undercover stint. You’re never gone this long and I was a bit harsher in my reaction than I probably should have been about that one job.” You bumped your knee against his and shook your head.

“It’s not a big deal, Roman. I was just tired. Needed some sleep. What’s the job?”

“Easy storm and grab. I’ve got the full file back at the club, if you want to head back there.” You nodded and moved to get out of the booth. You felt a little woozy as you stood, but passed it off as a passing iron deficiency. Roman stood up behind you and you turned to say something to him before you started to lose your footing. Roman immediately noticed and wrapped his arm around your waist, holding you up.

“Romey? I don’t feel so good.”

“What? Hey, what’s wrong? Treasure, you with me?” You hummed as he stared down at you before closing your eyes and settling against him, feeling unconsciousness settle into your mind. The last thing you heard was shouting and Roman whispering something in your ear.

You woke up to the soft sounds of classical music and groaned, reaching up to rub at your temple. You move to sit up and wince at the pain in your neck. Glancing around, you see a tall figure standing by a window and you smile a little.

“Roman?” His head immediately swings to look at you and he walks over, his hand running over your hair.

“Hey, my treasure. How are you?”

“Confused. What happened?”

“You were drugged, treasure.” You frowned and swung your legs over the edge of the bed, trying to plant your feet solidly on the ground. “Hey, nope. Stay there, treasure. You’re not all here yet.” Roman kept you sitting on the bed with a heavy hand on your shoulder. He crouched down to look at you more evenly and rubbed his thumb across your knee.

“Who did it,” you ask in a small voice. He grabs your hand, lacing his fingers between your own.

“The diner, treasure. We tested the food. Looks like they’d been trying to take me out instead.”

“The fries?” He hummed an assent as he squeezed your hand and you sighed. “Guess it’s a good thing you’re weirdly tolerant. It only knocked you out for a little while.” You nodded and leaned into the hand that tangled itself in your hair. “Treasure? You with me?”

“Mhmm.” You saw a gentle smile and he stood, reaching over to move you to lay back down on the bed.

“Go back to sleep, treasure. It’ll all be okay in the morning.” Your eyes fluttered shut as a hand scratched at your scalp and you let out a small sigh of contentment. As you drifted off again, you heard Roman murmur one last thing. “I’ll take care of it, sweetheart. I always will, for you.”

The next, and final, time that you awoke you felt much more clear headed and you were able to easily sit up and stand. You saw the clothes a few feet over on a chair and changed, glad to get out of the clothes that you’d been wearing for what was likely a few days now. Ruffling your hair slightly with your hand, you walked barefoot towards Roman’s kitchen. You opened the fridge, finding plenty of ingredients for an omelet, and got to work preparing yourself breakfast. You saw your phone on a charger a little ways away and unlocked it, connecting to the bluetooth speakers in the kitchen.

Playing your favorite album, you swayed gently to the music and started chopping, mixing ingredients in with eggs to add some spice. You didn’t bother to look up as the door opened, knowing that no one Roman didn’t trust was allowed up, and continued bopping your head to the music. You poured the eggs into a buttered pan before you felt hands on your shoulders.

“I see you’re feeling better,” Roman said and you smiled, glancing back at him.

“Mhmm. Guess I just needed some sleep. You want breakfast?”

“Sure,” Roman said with a smile. “As long as it means I get to see you keep dancing.” You rolled your eyes at him and tossed a piece of cheese at him as he sat in a stool across the island from you. He opened his mouth and caught the cube between his teeth, giving you a sharp grin.

It didn’t take long for you to finish the food and you sat down next to him, glad to be getting something in your stomach after so long asleep. You didn’t even flinch as Roman rested his arm across the back of your stool. As soon as you finished your food, you turned to him and kicked his ankle gently. He gave you a reproachful look and you rolled your eyes.

“What happened with that job?”

“Taken care of. Zsasz handled it while you recovered.”

“Damn, I’m never gonna hear the end of that.” Roman narrowed his eyes, a slightly stormy look coming over his face.

“Zsasz won’t say shit to you. You took the drugging meant for me. You deserved a couple of days.” You reached over and squeezed Roman’s shoulder.

“Chill, Roman. I was joking.” Roman relaxed, his mouth forming a small O as he calmed. You smirk at him before reaching up to rub a piece of omelet off the corner of his mouth. His lips caught your thumb before it could leave his face and you froze as they closed around the digit. You could feel yourself blush as Roman gave it a teasing nip before pulling back.

“You look delightful in red, my treasure,” Roman said as he rested his elbow on the island, leaning closer to you. “Although, I must say that you wearing my shirt is an even better look.” You blushed harder at that, not having realized just how large the shirt felt on you. Roman had a much larger physique than most gave him credit for and the shirt was nearly slipping off of your shoulder. This was not a detail that Roman missed as his eyes zeroed in on the bared skin. His hand came to rest on your thigh, squeezing it a little to pull your attention to him alone.

“Roman…” you trailed off, not remembering what you were going to say as his fingers moved up your thigh, resting close to your hip.

“Yes, treasure?” His other hand moved to tilt your chin up to look directly at him and you sighed. You didn’t want to ruin this moment, but recently there had been quite a few of these moments. And you were so confused by what was happening that you couldn’t take it anymore. You stood abruptly, pushing away from him.

“Roman, what the fuck is this? What are you doing with me? I need some answers here.” He leaned back on his stool with his eyebrows raised.

“Well, this is breakfast and I was enjoying it with you.” You glare at him and shake your head.

“Don’t try and be funny, Roman. I’m serious.”

“So am I.” You stare at him blankly and he sighs. “Look, treasure, I care about you, okay? I think we’ve already established that.”

“Yeah, but we haven’t established what the fuck it means. I don’t know what you want from me here, Roman.”

“Whatever you’re willing to give, my treasure. I’ll take whatever I can get from you.”

“I-Roman, it’s not that simple.”

“Isn’t it?” He stood at that and walked over to you. You found yourself being crowded against the countertop, the position feeling a little too familiar, and you sighed. “I want whatever I can get from you, whether that be friends, a kiss, maybe a little bit more. But only what you want to give and that you give freely. You want me to back off, treasure, you just say the word. I’ll respect your decisions, always, but you’ve got to communicate them with me.”

“And right now?”

“Right now, I want to kiss you until you can’t breathe and the only thing you can remember is my name.” Your eyes widened and you bit your lip, staring into his eyes for a moment. You took a deep breath and finally spoke.

“Oh, fuck it,” you said before grabbing his collar and pulling him into a bruising kiss. You heard him groan into the kiss and you sighed, letting him pull you up to sit on the counter. His arms bracketed you as he tilted his head for a better angle. You sunk further into the kiss and let out a contented sigh as you ran your hands across his shoulders. Roman slipped his gloved hands underneath the too-large shirt you had on and you sighed again as his fingertips brushed against your ribs.

The two of you parted for just a moment, Roman’s forehead resting against your own with a wicked grin on his lips as you caught your breath, before reconnecting. Your legs wrapped around his waist and you tangled your fingers in his hair, reveling in the silky strands. He’d always looked like he had soft hair. You broke the kiss and tugged at his hair and he released a strangled sort of sound as you pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw. You were beginning to move down his neck when you heard the door open.

Cursing, you jumped away from him, scrambling off of the counter as Zsasz walked in. You straightened your shirt and frowned at Roman who didn’t even bother to press his hair down.

“Am I interrupting,” Zsasz said with a smirk and you narrowed your eyes at him before grabbing your phone and keys from the countertop behind you.

“Not at all,” you said quietly. “I was just leaving.” You stepped past Zsasz, resolutely refusing to glance behind you when you know the look Roman would be giving you would only make you want to stay. You couldn’t stay. You just...you didn’t understand what was getting into you.

* * *

You had been wandering around downtown Gotham for hours, walking nowhere in particular. You’d smoked through at least half of your pack of cigarettes when you heard a car roll up to you.

“Get in the car, treasure.” You turn and glare at him.

“No.”

“Oh, for god’s sake,” you hear him mutter before a car door opens and he gets out to walk beside you. “Will you just get in the car so that we can talk about this?”

“I think I’m good out here. It’s nice out tonight.” You raised your cigarette and he plucked it from your fingers, tossing it on the ground. “Hey, that shit’s expensive.”

“All the more reason for you to quit.” You roll your eyes and take a turn down an alleyway, Roman following behind you. “Seriously, will you stop? Just, talk to me, okay?” Roman reached out and grabbed your hand, pulling you around to face him. You roll your eyes as he pulls you back towards the car. You let him push you into the car and sit in sullen silence the entire ride back to his apartment. 

When you enter the apartment, he goes and sits down at one end of his ridiculously long dining room table. He gestures to the other seat and you reluctantly sit, knowing he won’t say anything until you do.

“What, Roman?” You were sure it was unfair to snap at him but you couldn’t stop yourself. You could barely look at him without feeling...everything that you’d been suppressing for hours. “You want to talk? Okay, let’s fucking talk. What the fuck are you doing? What are we doing?”

“I’m pretty sure I was plenty clear earlier today. I think it’s you who’s being confusing.”

“Oh, it’s me? Sure, Roman, blame all the mixed signals on me. Because  _ I’m _ the one who got attached and then overreacted to everything later.  _ I’m _ the one who sent you on a week-long undercover mission and refused to talk to you. Pretty sure that fits the definition of mixed signals. You claim you can’t handle not having me around and then send me away? Makes a whole lot of sense, don’t you think?” Roman tossed his hands in the air and stood from his seat.

“You’re impossible.”

“Oh, yes. I’m the impossible one.”

“You are! You never actually respond to anything that I ask you, you go off and fuck around with some other guy in a bar-”

“Oh, don’t even think about bringing that up.”

“Oh, no, I think I want to! It’s the only time I’ve gotten you to even admit that you like me! Most of the time you act like you despise me!”

“That’s not true and you know it.”

“Isn’t it? You push me away every time you get,” Roman said as he stalked around the corner of the table and made his way over to you. “You never talk to me, all you do is joke around, and the minute something gets serious you run off to go smoke your death sticks and pout. If I’m being difficult then you’re just as bad.” You roll your eyes and he moves to stand by your chair “Don’t roll your eyes at me, treasure,” he spoke in a low voice as he leaned in. He towered over you as you sat stock still. “I’m still your boss and you’ll treat me with respect.” You glared at that and stood, pushing him back slightly.

“Oh, don’t start with that shit, Roman! Respect my ass. You haven’t been a real boss to me since I started working for you and you know it. I don’t need to follow your damn orders.”

“Really? Maybe I need to start making you follow them. At the very least, I can make you actually talk to me.” 

“That’s what you really want, Roman? You want to talk or do you want to fool around a little more before leaving me on edge and pissed off?”

“Oh, treasure, I’d gladly take the edge off for you if you asked,” Roman said with narrowed eyes.

“Prove it,” you hiss back at him and he pushes you into the edge of the table before stepping back. 

“Get on the fucking table,” he spoke, the command clear in his voice. You narrow your eyes and cross your arms and he practically growls until you’re scrambling to sit on the table. “You’re still wearing my shirt,” he murmurs before locking eyes with you. “Take it off.” You look at him and he raises his eyebrows. “Take the fucking shirt off or I’ll cut it off of you.” And you’re once again scrambling to follow his orders. Your hands get tangled in the sleeves and you hear his chuckle. “Guess I’ll just rip it off,” he says as he gives a sharp tug and the clothing falls from your body. You sit in front of him, more vulnerable than you’ve ever been, and his eyes soften just slightly.

“You truly are a treasure, darling. You know,” he starts as he approaches you, dragging gloved fingers down your ribcage, “you’re the only one who can soothe me nowadays. Everyone else, well, they just make me so angry.” His hand catches your chin and he leans in. “But not you,” he whispers against your lips. “Not even when you do such ridiculous things with other people. Because you know what I know?” He reaches his other hand around to the small of your back and yanks you forward until you’re pressed against him. “I know that you’ll always come back to me.” He surges forwards at that and kisses you deeply. You let out a small, choked off noise as he presses you down onto the oak table and climbs over you. 

His lips trail away from your own, dragging down your jaw and neck until he reaches your collarbone. He takes a bit of the skin between your neck and shoulder and bites, worrying it between his teeth. You let out another rather pathetic noise and you can feel him chuckle against you.

“Oh, don’t worry, my treasure. I’ll take good care of you. Like I always have and like I always will.” He pulls away from you and bites the tip of one of his gloves, pulling it off of his hand. He trailed his uncovered hand down your side and tucked his fingers under the waistband of your jeans. He moved to pull his other glove off as he stroked the skin on your hip and you grabbed his wrist before he could.

“Wait, leave it on.” He looked down at you and a smirk crossed his face.

“Oh, do you like the gloves, darling? I guess I can accept that request.” His bare hand lifted up and tangled in your hair, dragging your head down until it rested on the table. His gloved hand slid down to your jeans and you sucked in a breath. This was actually happening. Roman fucking Sionis wanted you and he was taking what he wanted. You’d never been more terrified and excited.

Roman took his time removing the last bits of clothing between the two of you, exploring every bend in your body and scar that you’d attained in the past years. You were breathless as he perused your body like it was one of his strange sculptures.

“Roman,” you were practically begging as he pressed a kiss to your hip. “Please. I-I need more.” He gave you a wicked grin and squeezed your hip.

“Well, dearest, I’m all too happy to oblige.” And he was. He completely ruined you for anyone else on that ridiculous dining room table before taking you into his bedroom and doing it again.

When the two of you finally came up for air, you were curled against him, your head resting on his chest, and a question was burning in the front of your mind.

“I can hear you thinking,” you heard him say and you huffed out a laugh as you traced patterns into his stomach.

“Roman, I don’t think I could take it if this was just a one time thing. I...I’m just-” He cut you off with a soft press of his lips against the crown of your head and you squeezed your eyes shut.

“Haven’t I told you often enough? You’re my treasure, darling. And I don’t let go of my treasure.”


End file.
